Pharmaceutical Technologist - November 2007 - (Page 17)

Legal crusaders A look at class action developments in Europe. Paul Llewellyn In recent years, a recurring theme of undiminished interest has been the extent to which class actions or other forms of collective procedure will be developed in the UK and Europe across the pharmaceutical sector, as well as many others. This interest arises from a combination of the various proposals for, and in some instances the introduction of: ● Quasi-class action procedures in various parts of Europe. ● The opportunities that US claimant lawyers see in these developments. ● The increasing adoption by UK claimant lawyers of the entrepreneurial and organizational skills of their US peers. It is not difficult to see why US claimant lawyers should be seeking new horizons. For more than a decade, corporate America and the defendant bar have mounted a well-funded and concerted campaign that has diminished significantly the fees generated by US class actions. Tort reformers have financed the election of state judges sympathetic to the principle of tort reform, and they have successfully lobbied state and federal legislators to introduce important procedural changes. These, and other initiatives, have led to the transfer, under the Class Action Fairness Act, 2005, of cases from state courts (historically sympathetic to claimants) to federal courts where there is a more objective and rigorous application of legal principles to limitations on punitive damages; restrictions on speculative and scientifically dubious expert theories; the closure of many class action “hell-holes”; and an overall reduction in claims. There has also been a demonstrable willingness of defendants to fight more claims, a clear example being the determination of Merck to defend approximately 24000 Vioxx drug claims. The risk to Europe is that this trend could slowly, but significantly, be moving in the opposite direction. No one is suggesting a cataclysmic descent into US style mass litigation, but instead the risk is of slow, incremental changes that are likely to prove irreversible, and which could lead to a significant increase in litigation unless the trend is halted. This is undoubtedly viewed with aversion by the pharmaceutical sector as it has been the target of so many class actions in the US. Europe is becoming an attractive forum for the US claimant bar, as is tellingly illustrated by the willingness of US class action law firms to open European operations. Michael Hausfeld — whose firm Millstein, Cohen, Hausfeld and Toll opened a 10-lawyer office in London (UK) in January — sees opportunities in competition, securities, employment and environmental claims, and has described his task as “…a crusade to www.ptemagazine.com 17 http://www.ptemagazine.com

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Pharmaceutical Technologist Contents Editor's Comment News Morpheus Feeling the Pressure Legal Crusaders The Holy-Grail of Start-Up Biotech Special Feature Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - November 2007

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